I mostly took it easy today: surveying my small yard for gardening possibilities, hauling away the refuse left by previous tenants (guests to last week's Green Hour will remember), playing alchemist with macerated liqueur recipes (mmm, banana), banning jmfranc puppets when necessary, and then dinner:

To celebrate the arrival of the new gas grill (thanks to Bifford) it was a couple of steaks and some sauteed mushrooms and zucchini with a bit of cajun seasoning, all washed down with a bottle of Bitch Barrossa Grenache 2005 and followed by a Hoyo de Monterrey Habano Robusto, compliments of a generous benefactor.

I almost finished screening in the latest forest retreat before I had to head to town to watch the Punk graduate high school. Then I got to watch Maggie grow nostalgic and drop a few tears as her baby went through his rite of passage.

I'm celebrating the Punk leaving high school with a nice glass of absinthe. Maggie is drowning her tears with the same. It's a nice all purpose beverage.

My evening repast was offal tonight. Black pudding and potato pancakes. And although it may not excite you I found it to be exquisite.

Better than that was breaking out the marinated cheese at lunchtime today. They make small rounds of a camembert type cheese here that are ubiquitous. They are commonly offered at pubs and restaurants marinated in oil with onions and usually a distinct lack of supporting cast. Two weeks ago I put some up using an array from our favorite herbal friends. Today we tasted and it was rather nice. Needs some tweaking still, more anise and coriander for sure, but it was a definite winner and worth further refining.

The Punk graduated. I cried. I cried some more. I cried again today.
It wasn't the first time I've cried over his rites of passage and I hope it wasn't the last. I am very proud of him.
Today T73 helped the almost-nephew-in-law build a deck for the sis-in-law while I slept in and did almost nothing.
As soon as it cools off we will be having a celebratory dinner for the Punk.
Then we will put him to work screening. We need to finish the retreat before the next BBQ in the Grove. to all!

I roasted some beautiful marrow bones this evening (how appropriate following Evil Dead rehearsal). Rich and delicious!T-bones and asparagus kept the bones company and we washed it down with a glass of Ridge Verte. It was all pretty damn tasty.

Last night it was burgers and fries at C. Kelekis, 1100 Main St Winnipeg, MB. Possibly the best comfort food ever. The boy and me playing hangman on the backs of placemats, the owner stopping by to visit like he does every time, and a visit to the men's room downstairs in the dungeon (trying not to split my skull on the low hanging plumbing). This is how we live it up in the north end.